Load lifting and weighing device



y 1935. P. s. ENDACOTT 2,009,768

I LOAD LIFTING AND WEIGHING DEVICE Filed May 8, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Patented July 30, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE LOAD LIFTING AND WEIGHING DEVICE Application May 8, 1933, Serial No. 670,045

4 Claims.

The present invention relates to load lifting and weighing devices, well adapted for use as a part of customers equipment for the storage and utilization of liquefied gas, such as propane.

Heretofore it has been the most general practice to vend liquefied gas for domestic and analogous purposes, according to what is generally known as the one-drum and the two-drum systems.

According to the one-drum system, the customer has on his premises a drum, hereinafter called a tank, for storage of liquefied gas and other equipment for the utilization of the gas. The customer's equipment is generally serviced by the vendor transporting and introducing into the tank, forming a part of such equipment, a supply of the liquefied gas. In order to make reasonably sure than the customer will have at all times a ready supply of the liquefied gas in storage, without attention on the part of the customer to the equipment, trips are made periodically by the service man to the customer's equipment. By including a number of customers on a route, the service man may with more or less regularity, say every month, attend to the requirements'of the customers, without the necessity of attention to the equipment on the part of the customers. By a weighing operation the service man determines, first, the quantity of liquefied gas consumed and for which the customer is generally billed and, second, the quantity he has introduced into the tank to replenish the supply in storage. This system has many advantages mainly among which is the low investment in tanks, sinc e only one tank is'provided as a part of the customer's equipment and it remains on the customer's premises indefinitely. This is in contradistinction to the two-drum system, where at least two tanks ordinarily form a part of the customer's equipment, altho gas is generally being drawn 'from but one of the tanks ata'time;

The two-drum system involves a servicing ,operation'on the part of the'customer as well as the vendor. The customer, when he has utilized all of the liquefied gas in one tank, goes to the equipment and by'the -manip'ulation of valves brings into use the second'filled tank. He then notifies the vendor, as by mail or telephone, to come for the empty tank and replace it with-a filled tank. The serviceman is thus required to either make a special tripto the customer's equipment or includev it as a stop. if traveling a route-in order, to substitute a filled tankfor that which has been emptied and to be in readiness to be drawn upon when the occasion arises. The two-drum system, it will be seen has high investment requirements, that is, at least two tanks for each customer, and expensive distributing costs. 5

Both the one-drum and two-drum systems are necessarily restricted to relatively small geographical areas which have high concentration of population beyond the gas mains.

The present invention is particularly well 10 adapted for, but not necessarily limited to use in practicing a method, such as is disclosed in copending application for patent of Paul S. Endacott, filed May 8, 1933, Serial Number 670,043, entitled Consumers method of handling high 15 pressure liquefied gas. It is particularly well adapted for use where the customer operates the liquefied gas storage and utilization equipment on his premises and looks after the transportation of. the empty or partially empty tank to a supply 20 depot or station and a filled tank from such depot or station to his equipment.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide readily available means associated with or forming a part of the customers gas storage 25 and utilization equipment, whereby the customer may, with comparative ease, lift the tank so that it is suspended, and verify the actual weight of the supply furnished by the vendor, with that set forth in the bill or other memorandum of the 30 transaction, by actual weighing operations, and also continuously correlate gas supply depletion with appliance usage.

Another object of the invention is to provide scales that are sufliciently accurate to serve the 35 requirements of customers who wish to be reasonably sure that they have obtained the quantities of liquefied gas desired or in accordance with the transactions theyv have with depots or stations from which supplies are obtained, and to deter- 40 mine from time to time the quantities of liquefied gas in storage or available in the tanks, and are also inexpensive to manufacture, compact, durable, and capable of being enclosed in a relatively small housing, or partially extended rela- 45 tive to the housing so as to function as a signal means, visible at quite some distance, to show approaching depletion of the supply of liquefied gas. 5

Another object of the invention is to provide. 50 in load lifting and weighing devices, means to prevent twisting and dropping of parts which are likely to be damaged if subjected to torsional stresses, or where an attempt is made to operate them to an extent greater than is required for 55 Figure 2 is a similar view, with the tank detached, and the weighing mechanism compactly arranged within the housing.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary side elevation of some of the parts shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional view on the line 44 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a horizontal sectional view on the line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is adetail view in front elevation, with parts broken away and shown in section disclosing the preferred type of scale beam and poise, of the preferred type of weighing device.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation of the beam.

In the drawings, wherein similar characters designate similar parts thruout the views, A: designates a rigid support, such as the wall of a building; B a load, such as a tank for liquefied gas under superatmospheric pressure; C, control means carried by the tank for control of the egress of gas from the tank; D a housing for at least the portion of the tank B which carries the control means C; E a conduit line for low pressure gas; F a load lifting and weighing device constructed according to the present invention; and, G means for detachably connecting the mechanism F and the load B.

In the example shown the loadB is in the form of a tank comprising a relatively long or slendercylindrical main body portion 8, provided with a foot ring 9 at its lower end portion, and a.- protecting ring I!) at its upper end portion. The

details of this tank form no part of the present invention exceptto the extent that it, together with the' contents thereof may constitute a variable load to belifted and weighed by the device F, and the same housing D which protects the control means C from the weather,'may be used to likewise protect device F and remove the possibility of tinkering or tampering on the part of unauthorized persons' v The control means C may comprise one or more valves H, the egress port l2 of one of which is shown in Figure 4 and forms a portion of the means G for detachably connecting the mechanism F to the load B. This control means C is preferably encircled by the protecting ring it), which, in the example shown, extends into the lower portion of housing D. Possible details of construction of the tank B and the control means C may be found in co-pending applications of Paul S. Endacott,.filed May 8, 1933, Serial Numbers 670,046 and 670,047.

The housing D preferably comprises a fixed section l3, a movable section M, such as a door, and means I5 for detachably securing sections l3 and I4 in closed relation. If desired, the sections l3 and 14 may carry horizontal webs I6 and I], respectively, which not only serve to strengthen the sectionsof the housing but also act as barriers,

when the housing is closed, to prevent a person reaching upwardly into the bottom of the housing to manipulate the valves II, and to also prevent any material degree of circumferential movement being imparted to the tank B when it is suspended, as shown in Figures 1 and 4, by having the protecting ring I of non-circular formation, as shown in Figure 5, and the webs l6 and I7 providing a similarly shaped opening l8, this opening being sufiiciently large so as to not have binding engagement with the protecting ring H] which would interfere with the weighing operations as hereinafter more fully set forth.

The section l3 comprises a back wall 20, side walls 2| and 22, and a top 23, preferably made tofreely shed water. This top 23 is preferably supported by the walls 20, 2| and 22, but has an extension 24, shown in Figures 3 and 4 which overlies the other housing section I4, when the latter is in a closed position. The sections I3 and I4 of the housing are preferably vertically divided and separable, the section l4, in the example shown being in the form of a door, arcuate in horizontal cross section, and hinged to the fixed section l3 as at 25, so that it may be readily swung to an open position. Preferably open to its upright margin opposite to hinges 25, the housing section I4 is provided'with an opening or slot 26, as shown in Figure 3 to permit a portion of the device F to-be exposed laterally of the housing when desired as a means of signalling. In order to detachably secure the sections l3 and I4 in closed relation, means I is provided and in the example shown comprises a hasp 30 secured to section l4 cooperating witha staple 3| secured to section l3, and a padlock 32, the shackle 33 of which is received by the staple 3| in the-Well known manner. This means I5 is merely by way of example and it is to be understood that other means may be provided to detachably secure the sections in'closed relation.

The conduit line E comprises a horizontally disposed pipe length 34 extending transversely thru the cabinet, as thru walls 2| and 22; a union or other coupling 35; and such other pipe fittings 36 as may be required to connect the gas storage and utilization equipment to the appliances where the gas is consumed. A cap 31 is placed on the end of pipe 34 opposite to union 35, to close one end of the pipe,.it being understood that if it is more convenient to lead the conduit line from the other side of the cabinet, the position of the union 35 and cap 31 may be interchanged. If desired, a low pressure relief valve 38 may have operative communication with the conduit line E.

Referring now to the device F, in the example shown, it comprises a lifting mechanism H and a scale J.

The lifting mechanism H, in the example shown, comprises a support or bracket 40; a hanger 4| carried by the support or bracket; a vertically movable screw member 42 connected to hanger 4|; a nut member 43 for the screw member 42, carried by the support or bracket 40; and a stop 44 to limit the amplitude of movement of the screw member 42 downwardly to a point where the tank B comes to rest on a horizontal surface, such as the ground 39 shown in Figure l and so that the tank may be readily detached from the device F and the scale J prevented from dropping from the support. The support or bracket includes a horizontally disposed arm 45 and a wall plate 46 thru which a lag screw 46' may be extended in order to secure the bracket, and the fixed section I3 of housing B to the rigid support A. The. arm 45 has a horizontal web portion 41 and two downwardly extending parallel flanges 48 which provide a downwardly opening channel or guideway 49 into which the hanger 4| extends and is vertically guided and is restrained against movement about its vertical axis. The screw member 42 comprises a relatively long shank portion 50 which is screw threaded and extends thru an opening 5| in web 41; and a head 52 which is rigidly secured to the hanger 4|, as by welding. The nut member 43 is provided with suitable radially extending handles 53 to facilitate rotation of the nut, and if desired a bearing washer 54 may be interposed between nut member 43 and arm 45. The stop 44, in the example shown, is a diametrically disposed pin extending beyond the threads of shank 50 at the upper portion thereof. It will thus be observed that if the nut member 43 is rotated to the extent where the threaded portion of the shank is approaching a position where it will pass out of nut member 43 if the nut is further rotated, the stop 44 will come in contact with the upper portion of the nut and resist further rotation of the nut in a direction to feed the shank 50 downwardly.

The hanger 4| is preferably rectangular in cross section and in the form of an inverted stirrup, comprising downwardly extending arms 55, connected at their upper ends by a bight portion 55 thru which shank 50 extends. Adjacent the lower portion of arms 55, perforations 51 are provided, so that the hanger may form a part of the suspension pivot of a portion of scale J. While the head 52 of screw member 42 is adjacent the bight portion 55 of hanger 4|, it is of course understood that this is merely by way of example, since the shank portion 50 may be exextended downwardly a considerable distance, and the head 52 secured to the arms 55 a considerable distance below bight portion 55, or the screw member may be connected to the hanger in other ways without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Concerning the scale J, it preferably comprises a beam 50; a suspension pivot 5| for the beam; 2. suspension pivot 52 for the load F; a poise 53 on beam 50; an indicator 64; means 55 for retaining the indicator in a set adjusted position; and, a stop 55 for limiting the amplitude of oscillation of the beam. The beam 50 comprises an elongate sleeve section 51 provided with a web 58 extending longitudinally thereof and a lateral sight opening 59; and a stem section 10 slidable in the sleeve section 51 and provided with delineations II which may be viewed thru the sight opening 59. The sleeve section 51 is preferably disposed with its web 58 extending downwardly, and the pivots5| and 52 are carried by web 58. The pivot 5| is received in the perforations 51 of hanger 4|, while the suspension pivot 52 cooperates with the upper end portion of a stirrup 12, these pivots 5| and 52 being offset in the usual manner of a beam scale. The poise 53 may be secured to the stem section 10 of beam 50, by a set screw 13 and may contact the one end portion of sleeve section 51, to limit movement of the stem section In in one direction relative to the sleeve section 51, as shown in Figure 2. The end portion of stem section 10 opposite to poise 53 may be provided with a downwardly extending stop portion 14 for engagement with a shoulder 15 forming a part of the sleeve section 51, as shown in Figure 6, to

limit sliding movement of the stem section in the other direction with respect to the sleeve section. The delineations 1| may have any suitable indicia associated therewith. For instance,

there may be a symbol to indicate that the tank is full, a symbol 5| to indicate that the major supply of liquefied gas is depleted, a symbol 82 to indicate that the reserve supply is depleted, and various symbols 53 between the symbols 8!! and 8| to indicate the quantity of liquefied gas in the tank, say in gallons so that the customer may continuously correlate gas supply depletion with appliance usage. The indicia or symbols may indicate the net weight of the liquefied gas in the tank, and the indicator 54 may be made adjustable, as by the provision of a slot 84 in its main body portion 85 disposed to the rear of sleeve section 51, this slot receiving a screw 55 or other means for retaining the indicator in a set adjusted position, the screw, in the example shown, having screw threaded engagement with the sleeve section 51. This enables a person to adjust the position of the indicator, so that its pointer 85 will show the net weight of the liquefled gas at the sight opening 59 and yet permit of adjustment in the event that the weight of the tank or other portion of the equipment suspended by the scale beam be increased, as by the addition of parts, or diminished, by the elimination of parts. For instance, at 81 is shown a device to facilitate attachment of the tank B to the running board of a motor vehicle, to facilitate transportation thereof. If such device be eliminated, or the foot ring 9 dispensed with, it would be desirable to adjust the position of the indicator 54 accordingly, or if devices such as is shown at 81 were added, adjustment of the indicator to a different position would be desirable.

In addition to the stirrup 12, the means G may comprise a pressure reducing regulator which has communication with the conduit line E thru flexible hose 9| and is connected to stirrup 12 by an eye bolt 52; and a coupling device 93 including an inlet compression nozzle 94 for cooperation with the outlet port l2 of control means C. If desired, a device 95 may be provided to limit the swinging movement of means G, this device in the example shown comprising an eye 95- carried by the regulator 95 and an L-shaped member 91 secured to pipe 34, with a depending leg 98 extending thru the eye.

This equipment is particularly intended to be completely operated by the customer; to require the installation of only one tank at a time; and to be in condition for weighing of the gas contents at any time, so that the customer may compute the expense of certain transactions and be informed as to the quantity of liquefied gas in storage.

Inasmuch as the tank is suspended at all times while forming a part of the customers equipment, so that the bottom will not rest on the ground, it is not essential that a permanent level footing, such as a concrete base, be provided.

From Figure 2 it may be observed that the entire scale J may be disposed in the housing D when desired or, by moving the section H of the housing to an open position a portion of the scale constituting an indicator may be extended laterally beyond the housing, the major portion of the scale remaining in the housing where it is protected from the weather. Inasmuch as the movable section I4 is provided with the opening 75 or slot 26, such section may be moved to a closed position and locked, with the stem portion of beam 60, in the example shown, extending to a position where it may be readily observed and free to move to a position over-balancing the suspended load when a sufiicient quantity of liquefied gas has been consumed.

Figure 2 shows the relative position of the parts as they may be left while the customer is taking an empty tank to the supply station and bringing a filled tank to the equipment. The movable section of the housing may be locked in a closed position. Upon arrival at the equipment, the housing may be opened, the nut member 43 rotated to feed stem or shank 5B downwardly, thus lowering the coupling device 93 to a position where it may be conveniently coupled with the tank. Subsequently by rotation of the nut member 43 in the opposite direction, the tank may be elevated to a suspended position as shown in Figure 1. After connection by the customer of the tank to other parts of the gas utilization equipment, the purchase weight of the gas may be checked for accuracy and subsequently the depletion of the gas supply may be followed by signal means, such as a visible signal and in the example shown, the

scale beam and poise of the scale may constitute the signalling means.

Since the load lifting and weighing device contains no loose or removable parts, such removes the possibility of tinkering and tampering on the part of certain types of users to a very great degree.

In reduction to practice, it has been found that the form of the invention illustrated in the drawings and referred to in the above description, as.

the preferred embodiment, is efficient and practical; yet realizing that the conditions concurrent of the advantages of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a scale, a. beam comprising a sleeve section provided with a lateral sight opening and a stem section slidable in said sleeve section and provided with delineations which may be viewed thru said sight opening, an indicator for cooperation with said delineations, and means adjustably supporting said indicator on the sleeve section of the beam.

2. In a scale, a beam comprising a sleeve section provided with a lateral sight opening near one end portion thereof, and a stem section slidably carried by said sleeve section so as to extend, in one position, partially into said sleeve at said sight opening end thereof, and so as to extend entirely thru said sleeve section in another position, said stem section provided with delineations which may be viewed thru said sight opening when the stem section is in either of said positions.

v3. In a scale, a beam comprising two elongate telescopically arranged sections, the outer section provided witha web extending longitudinally along one side thereof, and a clevis member and a stirrup member pivotally connected to said web for suspending the beam and the load on the scale, one of said last mentioned members extending about said outer section of the beam.

4. In a scale, a balance beam comprising an elongate sleeve section and a stem section slidable in said sleeve section, said sleeve section provided with a web extending longitudinally along its lower side, a clevis extending about said sleeve section and pivotally connected to said web for supporting the beam, and a stop carried by said clevis above and normally spaced from said sleeve section when the beam is in a balanced position, and to engage said sleeve section so as to limit the amplitude of oscillation of said beam in said clevis when the beam moves out of a balanced position.

'PAUL S. ENDACO'I'I. 

